Sometimes on the way to the dream...

Yes! I did.

We’re gonna get a little personal today. I hope that’s okay. As I sit here sipping on my Sugar Plum Tea, I just couldn’t help but think about the fantastical. Pretty much, from as far back as I can remember, I have enjoyed an extraordinary imagination.

Growing up in a single parent household, I had plenty of time to myself. Since my mother worked most of the time, and my sisters were six, thirteen and fourteen years older than me (one already married), I was left to my own devices. One sustaining memory finds me swinging around and around posts on a couple of front porches from my childhood. Pretty much, wherever I found a pole, it immediately became my stage.

I would hang on it like a monkey and simply open my mouth and out would come a plethora of made up scenarios and activities. Most often I made up songs, but a good bit of time was certainly spent on plotting out my future. Since the age of five I had plans for a family that most certainly included a very present daddy. I would be the star in these plays and in every story this daddy adored me as his favorite little girl. He could not hold me enough. He carried me on his shoulders most of the time, since that was my most favorite way to be held.

Every time I saw a little girl riding high atop her daddy, hands plastered on his forehead my heart would skip a beat, and my enthusiastic optimism would kick in as I imagined the day that dream would come true for me.

Of course, time moved on, and that daddy never became a part of my life. So… being the upbeat, optimistic person I was I simply changed gears, and set out to find the perfect husband that would be the daddy to my four perfect children. Then I could watch as my beautiful daughter rode atop her daddy’s shoulders.

I did find a wonderful husband and four years later came my beautiful daughter. Yet, before that sweet girl could take her first high ride, problems arose and my dream was once again lost. You see, my daughter was not developing as she should. She was not meeting any of her milestones, and after years of specialists and therapies I was forced to accept that she was mentally challenged. I fought hard for my perfect dream, but, well…

Back to the beginning of this story. Here’s where the new dream kicks in. Even though that sweet girl was not what I had planned for, and I had to let my dreams for her die, she is exactly what God wants her to be. She is rich in love and untarnished acceptance. She loves unconditionally and brings me more joy than I deserve.

Now that I have walked this less traveled rode of parenthood, I have a new dream. This dream is not for me at all, but for others. Hope. Yep, hope!

Amazingly enough God has decided to use the gift I have had all along. Imagination! When I was that little pigtailed, snaggle-toothed girl swinging around those poles, planning out my future, my Heavenly Father used it to give me hope. And now that I am… um, older, he has taught me to write a fantastical story to help others and give them hope. Thus the story of Katie Mylady.

Please watch the following video:

http://thestir.cafemom.com/toddler/131286/cutie_with_down_syndrome_will

Please check back for an excerpt coming soon!

Love and Blessings, Laura K.